African people have dealt in currencies for at least a millennium. The struggle to understand the long history of those currencies is intertwined with two others: over the terms for understanding money in general and over the basis for Africa's originalities in the modern world.

This lecture is given in celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Cosponsored by: Office of the Chancellor, Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Graduate College, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, The Council of Deans, The Center for Advanced Study, George A. Miller Endowment, George A. Miller Committee, Peggy Harris Memorial Fund, Department of Anthropology, Department of Economics, Department of History, Department of Sociology, Center for African Studies, Office of Women in International Development, Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security (ACDIS), Program for the Study of Cultural Values and Ethics, McKinley Health Center, United States Department of Education